Shapeshifters: Hands-on with Lenovo’s Windows 8 “tablaptops”

The Yoga, Twist, and Lynx all transform shapes, though not all for the better.

Lenovo unveiled the final version of its IdeaPad Yoga convertible laptop Tuesday night, as well as two new hybrid models: the ThinkPad Twist and the IdeaTab Lynx. The Yoga remains Lenovo's most solid entry (though it's not without flaws), while the Twist seems like a callback to early "tablet PCs" circa 2003. As for the Lynx, we're unsure why it needs to exist alongside the ThinkPad Tablet 2; a little more design work might have allowed Lenovo to merge the two products into one powerhouse tablet.

IdeaTab Yoga

The last time we crossed paths with the Yoga was at CES in January, when only the 13-inch size was available. Not much has changed—it still has the same solid body, 1600×900 touchscreen, and extremely flexible hinge.

The touchscreen was quite responsive as we swiped around the Windows 8 touch interface. The hinge was a little stiff for our taste as far as laptops go. We like to be able to open the computer while it sits on a table without having to hold the bottom side down to pry it apart. This stiffness seems to simply be the way things are for the Yoga, as without its stiff hinge, it can't hold the "tent" position.

Our original complaints about holding the Yoga in tablet form still stand; gripping it where the keyboard is positioned on the flipped-around backside feels terrible. It's bad enough that we could see someone taking pains to avoid ever holding it that way, instead gripping the bottom half of the base where the palm rests are located. Plus, at 3.4 pounds, the 13-inch Yoga is too heavy to perform well as a tablet. The 11-inch version isn't much lighter, at 2.75 pounds. During its presentation, Lenovo representatives also made more than one demonstration of hanging the Yoga over things (railings, backs of chairs). We're extremely skeptical anyone will ever actually do that, but Lenovo seems optimistic.

The 13-inch Yoga will be available for reservation at Best Buy starting October 12, and will launch at Best Buy and lenovo.com on Windows 8 launch day (October 26) for $1,099. The 11-inch version will not arrive until December and will be priced starting at $799.

ThinkPad Twist

Readers will surely remember the onslaught of tablet PCs about a decade ago. They were laptops with screens that could swivel around and fold flat, and they often came with a stylus which allowed you to take notes. If you were a college student around then, it seemed like it was The Endtimes of Paper. And it was OK to spend $1,000 on a new computer because you'd be saving at least, like, $5 per semester on notebooks (you savvy consumer, you!). Or so you thought: it turned out the screens were only sensitive enough to allow you to squeeze in a few words per digital page. They became defective after a couple of semesters, forcing you to abandon the abomination of a computer by sophomore year.

Lenovo is attempting to bring those days back with the ThinkPad Twist, a laptop with a swivel screen. The hinge seems sturdy, which was usually the problem with earlier tablet PCs. Back then, one too many conversions from laptop to tablet and the touchscreen would die.

That's a pretty wide gap between the screen and base.

The hinge when the Twist is folded flat.

Hmm...that's not right.

The device's body, though, is pretty chunky. We also noticed that when we folded the screen flat, the two halves didn't exactly make a whole, leaving a huge and ugly gap. With actual for-real tablets now floating around the market, a hybrid like this doesn't make for a very compelling product anymore. Sure, it has Windows 8 and the touchscreen is immensely more useful than in days of yore, but the weight and price make it hard to justify.

The ThinkPad Twist will debut at "Staples and other retailers" on October 26, according to Lenovo. The starting price is $849, which will increase with customizations.

IdeaTab Lynx

The IdeaTab Lynx.

The hinge on the Lynx: ugly, but it moves.

The Lynx is like a thinner, portless version of the ThinkPad Tablet 2, weighing in at 1.41 pounds without its dock, and 2.86 pounds with it. The 11-inch screen has an unimpressive 1366×768 resolution. As a docked tablet/ultra-netbook, the battery life is pretty compelling: eight hours on its own as a tablet, 16 hours with its dock.

With both parts fitted together, the Lynx makes for an ungainly netbook. We've lamented in the past that the upcoming ThinkPad Tablet 2 and its companion dock are unable to be folded together, or to articulate at all (this is an area where the Lynx wins). We found it was bit cumbersome to get the Lynx tablet in and out of the dock, but once it was in, the assembly felt pretty solid.

The difference in price between the Lynx and the ThinkPad Tablet 2 is small ($599 and $649, respectively, with another $149 for the Lynx's dock). As we mentioned earlier, we're not sure why these two couldn't have been fused into one product: give the ThinkPad Tablet 2 a battery-powered dock, take away the stylus, keep the ports if Lenovo really feels that strongly about them (or just put them on the dock), and give the dock a working hinge.

The IdeaTab Lynx won't be available until December and still has no announced retail outlets. As mentioned, the tablet is priced at $599, and the dock is an extra $149.

The Thinkpad Edge Twist is not a "circa 2003" design; it's a Thinkpad X230t from 2012 with an easier-to-stomach price tag, just like a Thinkpad Edge E430 is a T430 with an easier-to-stomach price tag.

Also, the Edge Twist's design does make sense compared to other designs with an integrated (as opposed to detachable) keyboard. The Vaio Duo 11 can't adjust the screen angle (it's either open or shut), the Yoga ends up with a keyboard on the back instead of a solid back (as the reviewer noted), and the XPS Duo 12's method of flipping (two hinges at the sides of the screen that rotate it within a frame, instead of one swivel at the base of the screen) has been critized as feeling fragile. If you're going to have an integrated keyboard on your convertible tablet, the twist design may not be the sexiest, but it certainly is practical. That's why business-class users have been using twist-screen convertible tablets for years.

I'm glad that Lenovo didn't take away the Wacom digitizer from the Thinkpad Tablet 2 like the reviewer suggests. It's useful for navigating legacy Windows apps on a 10" screen, it's great for engineers (where note-taking involves formulas and diagrams instead of just words that are easily typed out), and for people like my wife who prefer handwriting to typing, it could revolutionize interactions with technology. When Ars reviewed the Galaxy Note, did it say "this would be better off without a stylus?" Of course not. There are plenty of stylus-free designs on the market; I'm glad the TPT2 offers one (and a very good one at that). Choice is a good thing.

And is it just me, or does a tone of negativity permeate every Ars article about Windows 8 and convertible tablets?

Not sure I'd ever be interested in something like this. I have my tablet for when I want my tablet and I have a powerful suped up laptop for when I need the extra kick. Having a poorly implemented half-way house seems like compromising on both the power of a dedicated machine and the light portability of a tablet.

What is it about windows 8 creating an influx of transforming laptops? I really like the OS and think it works for both touch and typical mouse interactions. I wouldn't mind a tablet with a keyboard in the cover like we've seen previously but why try and make me ditch my laptop too? Different use-cases imo.

Not sure I'd ever be interested in something like this. I have my tablet for when I want my tablet and I have a powerful suped up laptop for when I need the extra kick. Having a poorly implemented half-way house seems like compromising on both the power of a dedicated machine and the light portability of a tablet.

What is it about windows 8 creating an influx of transforming laptops? I really like the OS and think it works for both touch and typical mouse interactions. I wouldn't mind a tablet with a keyboard in the cover like we've seen previously but why try and make me ditch my laptop too? Different use-cases imo.

It all depends on what you're using your devices for. I think a lot of people would like the power of a laptop in tablet form - especially one that can be used as either one or the other. I think it's the natural course of things myself. It allows you to consume in tablet mode and work/create in laptop mode. When I was travelling 40+ weeks a year I would have killed for something like this.

And is it just me, or does a tone of negativity permeate every Ars article about Windows 8 and convertible tablets?

It's not just you, but I'm also not sure if the negativity isn't justified. These designs all feel like solutions to problems that just may not exist.

I have a tablet that works great, a laptop that works great, and rarely do I wish they'd merge in to a single do-it-all device. My overall impression is "Why the hell would I buy one of these?". The market will tell us soon enough though.

I very much like the Yoga, or at least the basic idea. The actual design is terrible though. Nothing you're supposed to also use as a tablet should look like this viewed from the side.

The fact that Lenovo is spraying the market with slightly different models also reeks a lot of "we can't be bothered to figure out what's best, so we just let the customer figure it out" -- they're not exactly looking very confident here.

But: While I never would've thought I'd ever say this: I like where Windows 8 is going. Sooner or later someone will come up with some convincing hardware. This isn't it, though.

Very excited about the Lynx... being able to go tablet mode and swapping to laptop when I need it is spectacular. The resolution is not very exciting however.

Thanks for showcasing some of these new Windows 8 laptops Ars. I've appreciated seeing the designs manufacturers are coming out with. The one I've been more interested in for a while is the Sony VAIO Duo 11. Or perhaps if a tablet came out with better resolution, and the docking station attachment.

"it turned out that the screens were only sensitive enough to allow you squeeze in a few words per digital page, and became defective after a couple of semesters, forcing to abandon the abomination of a computer by sophomore year"

I actually bought an HP Pavilion TX1000 swivel tablet PC a few years back in undergrad... dropped in on concrete several times and on various other surfaces. Battery and charger's been replaced a few times, but other than that, it's still a hoot to use, especially with ArtRage and other painting apps.

And is it just me, or does a tone of negativity permeate every Ars article about Windows 8 and convertible tablets?

It's not just you, but I'm also not sure if the negativity isn't justified. These designs all feel like solutions to problems that just may not exist.

I have a tablet that works great, a laptop that works great, and rarely do I wish they'd merge in to a single do-it-all device. My overall impression is "Why the hell would I buy one of these?". The market will tell us soon enough though.

The Lenovo tablets didn't wow me that much, but i can see the use for a tablet device with a dock. You take the tablet and dock with you when you're on the go, if you need to fire up Office, you have a keyboard and for e-mails and such you have the touch interface. It still beats having an ultraportable and a tablet. When you're at the office, just connect to a monitor, mouse and keyboard and you have a full fledged computer ready for use. It won't be suitable to crunch numbers, but for the average workload it'll do just fine.

Give me a dongle that i can connect to projectors for powerpoint presentations and have the tablet in my hands and i'm sold.

Right now, i have my eyes on the surface pro. My mobile workstation is great for heavy lifting on the go, but for research group meetings and conferences, it would be nice to have a tablet where i can have all my programs to bring with me instead.

And is it just me, or does a tone of negativity permeate every Ars article about Windows 8 and convertible tablets?

It's not just you, but I'm also not sure if the negativity isn't justified. These designs all feel like solutions to problems that just may not exist.

I have a tablet that works great, a laptop that works great, and rarely do I wish they'd merge in to a single do-it-all device. My overall impression is "Why the hell would I buy one of these?". The market will tell us soon enough though.

Personally, I'm buying a Windows 8 convertible tablet on day one. It is a perfect fit for my workflow; I don't find it easy to switch back and forth between a laptop (Sony Vaio) and a tablet (iPad 1). If it doesn't work for you, you don't have to buy one. Traditional laptops and traditional tablets (including Windows tablets, like a Lynx without the optional dock) will both be sold. Just because door #3 is opening doesn't mean doors #1 and #2 are being shut.

I think processors aren't ready yet for true convertibles. The Atom is too slow for a laptop and Core processors need to much power and fans for a tablet. Maybe the Intel Haswell architecture will have the right mix of power and mobility.

Meanwhile, my money is on the Asus Vivo Tab. 11.6 inch, lightweight, good enough keyboard and trackpad, full Windows 8. If only it looked like the Yoga.

I very much like the Yoga, or at least the basic idea. The actual design is terrible though. Nothing you're supposed to also use as a tablet should look like this viewed from the side.

The fact that Lenovo is spraying the market with slightly different models also reeks a lot of "we can't be bothered to figure out what's best, so we just let the customer figure it out" -- they're not exactly looking very confident here.

But: While I never would've thought I'd ever say this: I like where Windows 8 is going. Sooner or later someone will come up with some convincing hardware. This isn't it, though.

Lenovo isn't "spraying the market"--they've got a very coherent map of their models; it just hasn't been highlighted very well in their presentation and/or articles about the presentation.

Put me down for a Twist - it may be heavy, but not much heavier than my Toshiba Thrive and I've been able to deal with that weight just fine. Tablets may be good for consumption, but my consumption all too often leads to ideas and I want to be able to switch to production mode on the spot without having to lug around two separate devices (or otherwise deal with them simultaneously). I just wish they had the extra controls on the sides of the screen that the OLPC has - good for games, of course, but also for avoiding smudging up your reading surface (on that note a nice hi-res Pixel-Qi screen might be nice, too).

That sounds too French, hence will surely fail in America. The only thing that sells is French's mustard, but only because it's "the other best thing after ketchup to put on the burger". Oh, and french fries, but that's it.

Based on using my Transformer with and without keyboard dock for a couple years now, I will say that tablet+keyboard dock beats any convertable, hands-down. For one thing, being able to charge the dock while carrying the tablet, then plug into the dock and wander around that way has been damned handy on occasion.

If someone really wanted to win the (enterprise, at least) tablet market:* Stylus support with a modern touchscreen; handwriting, easy touch, oh yes.* Keyboard dock with a plethora of ports and a good battery; couple or more USB, card reader, maybe throw a mini-HDMI on there* Work on the software so that the dock just works; my Transformer works a peach: media keys, screen adjust, wifi/bt/camera controls, etc all work within a second or two of hitting the dock

Bonus points for a desktop dock. Drop it in a cradle or display stand, have access to external displays, keyboards, etc. Pull it out, reflow the workspace to the tablet screen. (You can kinda do this with the Transformer; there's some incidental support for USB mice and keyboards.)

These designs all feel like solutions to problems that just may not exist.

I think that it is fair to note that the introduction of the iPad stirred up a lot of this sentiment too.

And that may still be valid criticism of the iPad and most current tablets, but people just keep buying them for some reason. I still have a hard time figuring out how such a device is more useful than my phone/laptop combo. Now, a tablet that runs software that I currently need my desktop or a laptop for would be something else entirely that, to me, actually does solve problems.

Tablets may be good for consumption, but my consumption all too often leads to ideas and I want to be able to switch to production mode on the spot without having to lug around two separate devices (or otherwise deal with them simultaneously).

Best one-sentence summation of the advantages of a convertible tablet I've heard so far. +1

Based on using my Transformer with and without keyboard dock for a couple years now, I will say that tablet+keyboard dock beats any convertable, hands-down. For one thing, being able to charge the dock while carrying the tablet, then plug into the dock and wander around that way has been damned handy on occasion.

If someone really wanted to win the (enterprise, at least) tablet market:* Stylus support with a modern touchscreen; handwriting, easy touch, oh yes.* Keyboard dock with a plethora of ports and a good battery; couple or more USB, card reader, maybe throw a mini-HDMI on there* Work on the software so that the dock just works; my Transformer works a peach: media keys, screen adjust, wifi/bt/camera controls, etc all work within a second or two of hitting the dock

Bonus points for a desktop dock. Drop it in a cradle or display stand, have access to external displays, keyboards, etc. Pull it out, reflow the workspace to the tablet screen. (You can kinda do this with the Transformer; there's some incidental support for USB mice and keyboards.)

We had ~150 HP Elitebooks, touch/swivel screen just like the thinkpad, purchased them a couple years ago. I believe I saw 2 people use it with the screen turned around and down tablet-style, everyone else disregarded the touch screen and used them like normal laptops.

But, that was pre-Win8, so maybe they'll enjoy more touch-use in the future.

That sounds too French, hence will surely fail in America. The only thing that sells is French's mustard, but only because it's "the other best thing after ketchup to put on the burger". Oh, and french fries, but that's it.

I very much like the Yoga, or at least the basic idea. The actual design is terrible though. Nothing you're supposed to also use as a tablet should look like this viewed from the side.

The fact that Lenovo is spraying the market with slightly different models also reeks a lot of "we can't be bothered to figure out what's best, so we just let the customer figure it out" -- they're not exactly looking very confident here.

But: While I never would've thought I'd ever say this: I like where Windows 8 is going. Sooner or later someone will come up with some convincing hardware. This isn't it, though.

Isn't it obvious? Ultimately, it's just airplay. A phone can provide the CPU/memory/storage for any hardware wirelessly, tablets, TVs, stereos, whatever. I think laptops are going to survive, but I don't think convertibles will, beyond a transition phase occurring in businesses. I like my thinkpad and dock, but it if weighed even less? Of course that would be my choice. Laptops, yes, laptops with touchscreens, maybe (if cheap enough). True convertibles? If cheap and thin enough.

We had ~150 HP Elitebooks, touch/swivel screen just like the thinkpad, purchased them a couple years ago. I believe I saw 2 people use it with the screen turned around and down tablet-style, everyone else disregarded the touch screen and used them like normal laptops.

But, that was pre-Win8, so maybe they'll enjoy more touch-use in the future.

That was probably because Windows XP and Windows 7 were catastrophically bad to use touch-wise. With more people used to touch inputs from Android and iOS devices, and with an OS that's actually finger-friendly, I think the Edge Twist has a chance of wider success than any previous swivel convertible.

"We like to be able to open the computer while it sits on a table without having to hold the bottom side down to pry it apart."

Why?

When you're in Starbucks holding your grande smack-latte to your face with one hand and you can't wait to put until you've finished your sip before opening your laptop.......wachgonnado eh? wachagonnado?

To be fair, having a hinge on a normal laptop that strong is probably only necessary to hold the screen still during more excitable vehicle journeys or such when there is as much reinforcement in the lid as thinkpads have. On any machine with a light lid (x1 carbon included) it seems a bit pointless and annoying.

"We like to be able to open the computer while it sits on a table without having to hold the bottom side down to pry it apart."

Why?

Why not? It drives me nuts when I have to use two hands to open a laptop, like I'm prying open a mollusk. Since hinges can be designed to offer different resistance levels at different points along their functional range, I'm hard pressed to understand why so many manufacturers struggle with this.

My elderly father uses some consumer-class Dell laptop which, while a fine and value-priced machine overall, suffers from this annoying problem to an extreme: if you try to open it with one hand at the lid/screen, the screen doesn't budge at all and you end up lifting the whole machine... until suddenly the resistance gives way and the bottom portion (containing the spinny disk, among other sensitive components) slaps down against the tabletop with an audible "whunk."

I like convertible formats but my eyes kind of glaze over when I see a review of devices like these with no clue which ones are Windows RT only and which have the full version of Windows. It's not like I'm keeping a wall chart so I can remember that for every model and design.

I am still hopeful that Lenovo will bring the Yoga hinge and touchscreen to the Thinkpad series. Trackpoint (a/k/a eraserhead mouse thingy), better keyboard, better screen resolution choices. For me, that would be a serious contender to the MS Surface Pro.